Sale of biplane part of Cuban saga

  BY JENNIFER BABSON

  KEY WEST - Duped Cuban spy-wife Ana Margarita Martinez hoisted herself on top of a scrappy yellow biplane that has touched off diplomatic efforts, legal maneuvers and heated rhetoric -- and beamed like a beauty queen in purple.

  ''I'm anxious, and I'm really happy that this has been able to come this far,'' Martínez said. ``By this time, it feels like it's almost my child.''

  This morning, the object of much international wrangling will be auctioned off in Key West, putting an end to more than one drama.

  On Nov. 11, the single-engine Antonov AN-2 Colt touched down unexpectedly at Key West International Airport in a dash for freedom that carried eight Cubans to the United States.

  Almost immediately, Havana demanded return of the state-owned plane.

  But lawyers for Martínez -- who won a $27 million judgment against the Cuban government as compensation for her sham marriage to Cuban spy Juan Pablo Roque -- moved to have the Soviet-made plane seized and sold to satisfy that debt.

  On Dec. 4, a Miami-Dade circuit judge cleared the way for today's auction.

  Martínez is prepared to bid on the plane if it appears to be selling for too little. ''We want to make sure it doesn't go for peanuts,'' she said.

  Martínez may not walk away with all of the plane's proceeds, as the manager of Key West's airport has already filed a lien worth almost $16,000 to pay for security costs.

  LITTLE INTEREST

  The riveted metal plane, which has a four-blade propeller and 1,000 horsepower engine, attracted maybe half-a-dozen prospective owners Sunday afternoon.

  What they glimpsed was a relic by American aviation standards.

  The aircraft's electric system controls, like everything else in its aluminum paneled cockpit, were delicately hand-painted in Cyrillic. What appeared to be a hand brake was affixed to the pilot's yoke. Fabric covered the plane's wings and tail.

  Keeping the cockpit cool: white cotton curtains, a couple of antique-looking fans, and a Cuban-made roll-on deodorant, found on the plane's floor.

  There were definite drawbacks to this buy.

  The plane, which was probably once used by paratroopers because it still has jump lights, featured only three tiny seats, one covered in a cushion. And it's not likely to double as a corporate jet, since the Federal Aviation Administration generally limits flying operations for this type of plane.

  Date of birth: Nobody but Cuba knows for sure.

  Bidders said Sunday they weren't eyeing the collector's item for everyday use.

  ''I own a small airport and a restaurant and I would take it there and park it. It would be a conversation piece,'' said John Cave of Medford, N.J.

  Cave did, however, tote along an entourage for the inspection. Among those he assembled was a mechanic who spent hours examining the aircraft inside and out.

  ''It's not certified to fly in the U.S.,'' Cave added, with a wave. ``It's a paperweight.''

  Bernard Seidling of Marathon was looking for an investment opportunity. But he wasn't sure if that was what he was looking at Sunday.

  IS IT A DEAL?

  ''I buy deals and I resell them,'' he said. 'But I'm not sure what a `deal' is on a Cuban plane.''

  In true South Florida fashion, the viewing even attracted a bidder who claimed -- though with no proof -- to be an Ohio-based field agent skulking around for the CIA.